I applied online. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Apple (Cupertino, CA) in June 2009
Interview
A very challenging interview provided by Apple. Before they brought me on-site, I had several conversations with the team over the phone over the course of 3 weeks. Onsite, the interview lasted for 5 straight hours and I spoke with 9 different people. They wanted me to speak to 2 or 3 more people, but those individuals were in meetings. The interview itself was very challenging, all matter of questions were asked including knowledge and experience with Apple products, previous projects worked on, a variety of technical questions, creativity questions, and a personal evaluation of faults and shortcomings. The interview process was very grueling but in the end rewarding; however, I was not offered a position.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Have you ever disagreed with a manager's decision, and how did you approach the disagreement? Give a specific example and explain how you rectified this disagreement, what the final outcome was, and how that individual would describe you today.
Around 2 months after I submitted my resume for Apple software engineer position, I got a call from the hiring manager. He asked me what was the good day for the interview. It took half day for meeting 5 people. It was long hour interview for me. Each interviewer spent ~ 30 minutes and asked ~ 4 questions. Each interviewer asked questions in the different areas.
6 rounds. 1 Technical Screening. Then onsite loop consisted of 4 rounds of behavioral, 2 technicals, and 1 sys design. Had an additional Hiring Manager round since I was borderline.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
LC Mediums and mentorship based behavioral questions.
6 rounds. Started with phone screen with HM about past projects.
Onsite rounds
1: OOD
2. Multi threading
3. Java design pattern and Immutable classes
4. HM
All the rounds were heavily focused on Java